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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Spatial scale plasticity of urban residential areas

et al., 2021). Historically, public health events have been addition, it is also important to achieve public health goals
an important driver of transformation in urban planning while minimizing disruptions to daily life through precision
and design. Existing research on non-pharmacological management, which also needs to be incorporated into the
interventions for the COVID-19 pandemic has focused SDGs (SDG 11.7).
more on urban governance and management models, with In summary, this research reorders the subgoals of
less research on spatial responses at the residential quarter SDG 11 to highlight the sustainable ways with which
scale.
cities and residential quarters can respond to COVID-19
Reforms and opening up along with the outbreaks, while also ensuring the achievement of SDGs.
commercialization of housing have gradually led to an The 11 subgoals are divided into three levels according
increased awareness of private property rights among to the degree of relationship of the subgoals with the
citizens, which has resulted in the prevalence of large response to the epidemic, corresponding to the concentric
gated residential quarters. Existing studies point out that circles displayed in Figure 1. The outermost circle is for
this produces the isolation of urban space, the exclusivity the basic objectives that support the functioning of urban
of public service facilities, the pressure of urban traffic, communities, such as transportation systems and water
and the separation of social classes (Sharifi & Khavarian- management. The middle circle is for the residential
Garmsir, 2020; von Seidlein et al., 2021) . However, goals related to community responses to disasters. The
2
developers’ pursuits of profit along with strict sunlight core circle is for the improvement of the planning and
and fire regulations make it more reasonable to choose a management capacity of a city, including the collaboration
layout pattern that combines point-type high-rises and of management and planning (Figure 1).
row houses, which ultimately leads to the homogenization
and monotony of urban space. The Chinese government Because SDGs are not isolated from each other, the
proposed in 2016 that “no more enclosed residential spillover effects for other goals, including trade-offs and
quarters will be built in principle” in a bid to reverse synergies, have to be considered when advancing one
space monotony. However, the new outbreak of the or more of the goals (Weitz et al., 2018; Valencia et al.,
epidemic in Shanghai in 2022 has shown that with the 2019). First, the negative impact on personal freedom
layout of existing residential quarters, it is difficult to (SDG 16.10) is the most obvious in Shanghai while non-
implement the policies to stop the spread of epidemics pharmaceutical interventions, such as social isolation
while respecting the rights of individual residents, and to (SDG 3.d), were used to control health risks. Second, the
reconcile the conflicts between the two. economy was also negatively impacted when the residents
were quarantined. Third, in addition to the outbreak itself,
2. Research concepts secondary disasters arose as a result of the response to the

In 2015, the United Nations introduced 17 Sustainable outbreak. This includes mental health issues for those in
Development Goals (SDGs) to guide global development quarantine, the lack of a timely supply of necessities, the
for 2015–2030. However, influenced by the uneven occupation of medical resources, and the disruption of
development between regions and the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic, many studies have concluded that
the timing and plans for achieving the SDGs need to be
reassessed (Achdut & Refaeli, 2020; Barbier & Burgess,
2020; “Time to revise,” 2020; Fenner & Cernev, 2021).
In the current highly connected and globalized world,
pandemic across regions poses a huge risk. Thus, some
studies have suggested that pandemic preparedness should
be integrated into SDGs (Di Marco et al., 2020). Dos
Santos et al. (2021) proposed that COVID-19 pandemics
should be integrated into SDGs 11 and 3 (11.5, 11.b, 3.d),
and that smart city technologies should be used to increase
planning resilience. Hamidi et al. (2020) proposed the role
of community governance and increased communication
(SDG 11.3) in pandemic prevention and control. In

2 http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2016-02/21/content_5044367. Figure 1. Three levels of COVID-19 responses according to SDG 11.
htm [Last accessed 2022-07-27]. Source: Diagram by the authors

Volume 5 Issue 3 (2023) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1242